Latest Water Chestnut Planting Methods and Timing Explained in Detail
The water chestnut is the underground fruit of the herbaceous plant water chestnut, has a certain use value, and is planted in the southern region, mainly cultivated most in the Yangtze River basin. The water chestnut also has a certain medicinal value. Planting water chestnuts must be done in water. The timing and methods of planting water chestnuts are the key points concerning water chestnuts, and now let's take a look together.
1. Planting Time
Planting is generally carried out around Qingming, but the specific time depends on when the water temperature stabilizes above 12°C before proceeding. The weather differs every year; sometimes the temperature reaches the threshold before Qingming, but sometimes the temperature is still very low. However, some varieties are early-maturing varieties, which can be planted not so early. But late-maturing varieties can be cultivated early.
2. Seed Selection and Planting
Select high-quality varieties, and choose early, mid, and late varieties for cultivation, so they can be marketed in batches and seeds can also be kept. For direct seeding cultivation, plant in rivers and ponds, keeping the water depth at 3 cm for planting, plant water chestnuts that have already sprouted water chestnut buds, and sow them evenly by broadcasting. Before sowing, clean the pond thoroughly. Generally, 20 jin of water chestnuts are planted per mu. In deep water, seedlings can be raised for planting. For seedling raising, 120 jin of seed are used per mu, which can be transplanted to 5 mu of water surface, and the seedlings are raised for two rounds before transplanting.
3. Cultivation Management
Use 4,000 jin of livestock manure per mu as base fertilizer. After germination, use 10 jin of urea per mu for topdressing, and after flowering, apply 2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate several times for foliar spraying. To prevent aphids, use 90% crystal trichlorfon 800-fold solution for spraying. Spray once more than once a week. The main disease is water chestnut blast, and use 5% jinggangmycin 400 g mixed with 50 kg of water for spraying. Remove weeds and some aquatic plants at any time.
4. Environmental Requirements
Plant in moist mud of temperate zones, suitable for ponds, swamps, and fields converted from diverted river channels. It likes a warm environment and is not suitable for planting in cold environments. The most suitable growing temperature is 25°C to 36°C, and generally in summer the water temperature is a bit lower. For planting water depth, it is 3 cm when sowing, gradually increases after emergence, and is kept at about 0.6 m after growing up.
The timing and specific methods of water chestnut planting, as well as the management content, have all been introduced above. I hope they can be used by everyone and be of some help. You can refer to them.